Lucky or Not!
by EeveeGen9988
Summary: [One-Shot] Rei always wanted a sibling, but she didn't expect to get the boy who came home with her father one day... For [Twelve Shots of Summer: Trinity Limit] [Eucatastrophe] [Backstory] [Foreshadowing] [Catharsis] [Poetic Justice] [Repetition] {Crisco Pie Tin} For Chronic Guardian!


**Lucky or Not!**

 **I do not own The World Ends With You, Square Enix does!**

 **Written for Twelve Shots of Summer - Week 12...**

 **...**

 **This story made due to a certain request I got in one of my reviews! This story is for Chronic Guardian! I hope you like it! =D**

* * *

Rei never thought this would happen. In all her days she waited, looking forward to this, never would she have thought this would happen instead!

"I'm sorry Rei, but you won't be able to have a sibling."

Her mother had gotten into an accident. Not just any accident, but an accident that robbed Rei of the chance to be a big sister.

Why did it have to happen? Why did it have to happen to her!? Her mother couldn't have a child now, and Rei couldn't help but feel angry towards the man who crashed into her mother's car on her way home from work. Rei's father half-heartedly told her that there wasn't anything they could do to change that, but Rei couldn't accept that!

How could she? That man killed the little sister she would have had as well.

* * *

When she was ten and a half, her father brought a boy home.

It was strange at first when Rei discovered the boy was in her house, seeing that it was unexpected. And something unexpected like this was something she wasn't used to, so she tried to play it safe by sticking upstairs (while eavesdropping, of course). She had wondered why the boy was there, and she couldn't figure out a reason for him to be there. Everything about the boy being here was different, like the whole atmosphere changed and she didn't like it! She sort of wanted to storm down the stairs and scare him off, like the dog she used to have, but she soon found out he was here to stay. Her father wanted to adopt the boy...

Just hearing the word 'adopted' made her excitedly charge down the stairs to meet the boy... head-on. She sort of crashed into him. Her parents weren't pleased by her dramatic appearance, and the boy afterwards tried to stick close to her father. But she soon noticed the boy glasses, and she knew what that meant.

Yanking them off, Rei cried out in disbelief, "What do you need these for!?" She was worried instantly about this boy, many kids in her class had glasses and she hoped his vision wasn't just as bad. She wondered if on the side the glasses said what type of vision he had, so she checked over them until she looked back at the boy in concern when the glasses did not help her.

When she looked at him long enough, the boy lifted his bangs away from his face, scowling at her when he said quietly, "Clearly, to see..."

At that she was shocked by his response. She knew that already, but his unfriendly attitude made her feel frustrated...

"Hey!" shouted Rei in irritation as she shook his glasses at him. "You don't have to be so-"

She accidentally hit him with his glasses.

...Ever since that day, the boy didn't want to be near her.

* * *

The boy became her foster brother, and he had no name. She couldn't believe he had no name! Everyone had a name! But her father told her that it was the boy's job to choose one. But how could he? That made no sense! Her father named her when she was born, so why couldn't her father name him!? But her father was very set upon the idea that the boy was old enough to choose a name of his own.

That's why, being the older sibling in the house, she decided to help her to-be-brother.

"How about... Daichi?" She jabbed her finger on the name and grinned at the boy hopefully.

The boy shook his head.

Grimacing, Rei closed her eyes and shot her finger down on the book again. She checked the name and shouted out, "Aiko!" After checking it again a few seconds later, she sighed and slapped her forehead. "Wait a minute- that's a girl's name!"

The boy quietly sat there, not saying a word. She hated how the boy barely spoke to her; in fact, it took her many days until she was finally able to be with him and have him comfortable with her presence. Her father did task her with teaching the boy to read and write, since her parents were busy at work most of the time these days due to their work shifts, so she knew she had to find him a name!

"Seriously, we went through 500 names already!" cried Rei in frustration as she flopped backwards onto the couch, staring at the ceiling when she sighed. "Choose a name already!"

The boy didn't reply, and she noticed how he didn't even look at her. She couldn't understand why he wouldn't talk to her! Everyone loved talking to her! But this boy was frustrating! He wouldn't even talk in her presence anymore!

With another sigh, Rei sat up and placed the book down beside her. She got the remote and turned on the TV, knowing the boy wouldn't interrupt her.

A few minutes into the show, she saw that the boy had picked up the name book that she burrowed from the bookshelf. She frowned to herself, wondering why the boy was so interested in looking for his name on his own when she tried to help him earlier! It made no sense! But... maybe her efforts with teaching him how to read was paying off! That thought made her smirk, feeling a burst of pride in herself.

After the show was done, she shot him a look as he continued to read the book. "Find a name?" she asked hopefully.

The boy shook his head, and his long, droopy hair that covered most of his upper face shifted. "I have no clue what it says," he said quietly.

Rei flopped down again with a groan.

* * *

When Rei waited for her mother to pick her up, she noticed how a kid from her class was in the lobby of the school as well. She tried to not watch him, pouting to herself as she waited. She once and awhile swung her legs back and forth, looking around in boredom.

Soon an older boy came and the boy who had been nearby her jumped up and ran towards the older one, hugging him hard as she caught him saying 'big brother'. She pouted more, watching them as they happily walked out. Why couldn't the boy she lived with act like that with her!? Why couldn't the boy be excited when she came home!? She couldn't believe the boy she lived with was so _boring_...

Hanging her head, she closed her eyes, clenching her hands and crossing her arms on her lap. Was she not trying hard enough? Was she horrible at being a big sister? She lived with the boy for at least two weeks and he still didn't show signs that he liked her! What was she doing wrong!?

She thought it was a miracle when she found out her father wanted to adopt the boy, that she would finally be a big sister... but now she found this was becoming a bore! Why couldn't her father bring home someone who could be cheerful or energetic like her!? She found there was nothing she and the boy had in common, so why didn't her father get one that did!? Rei hated how quiet he was! She wanted him to at least be interested in what she tried to do with him, but no, he was quiet and boring! That sucked! Rei wanted to bite her nails from how frustrating the boy was! There was no one else in the world who could be labelled as boring as that boy was... except her teacher, who was almost as boring as the boy was. So why did she have to have this boy be-

"Rei sweetie?"

At once Rei looked up in surprise, noticing her mother was standing in front of her. With a grin, Rei hopped to her feet, sliding one arm through her backpack as she exclaimed, "What took ya so long? I've been waiting forever!"

"I've just been here for a minute," her mother said softly, "We should get going. The babysitter already called to say she has to go home, and we can't leave your foster brother alone for too long."

"Well then," Rei chirped as she shoved away her negative thoughts. "What are we waiting for!" Hastily she strode to the entrance, not waiting for her mother who followed behind in a slower pace.

As soon as they got to the car, they left for home.

* * *

When Rei got home, and her mother went to talk to the babysitter, she noticed the boy was sitting on the couch... Just sitting there! Nothing else! She fumed a bit as she went to put her things away then strutted down the stairs, ignoring the boy. She didn't really feel like interacting for the moment. Instead she got out her video game console and started up the game, putting up the volume loud enough for her liking.

It was a while until she felt a tap on her shoulder, and it startled her enough for her to lose focus and die in the game. Fuming, she whipped her head up and shouted as a spike of anger shot through her, "What!?"

"Rei sweetie," said her mother as she frowned, blinking her brown eyes as she asked politely, "could you turn down the volume, please?"

"Oh, sorry!" At once Rei felt a pang of guilt, quickly turning down the volume as her blonde bangs drifted over her face. She kept looking at the screen, not wanting to see the disappointment in her mother's gaze. Her mother walked away when Rei started the level again.

Soon a shadow fell over her lap, so she looked up and noticed the boy was standing in front of her now. Pausing the game, she tried to not scowl as she asked peppily, "Hey, what's up?"

The dark blue haired boy had his head tilted down as he asked quietly, "What's that?"

"A video game console!" she chirped, beaming as she jabbed a thumb up. "I'm the best gamer in my class!"

"Okay." The boy turned around and went back to sit on the couch he was on before.

Rei's grin dropped at once, and she looked down and went back to bashing the enemies. She tried to shove aside the feeling of hurt that struck her, but it remained with her. She couldn't believe the boy just asked her that and sat back down! What was wrong with the boy!? She tried to distract herself with her game, but she couldn't help but peer at the boy once and awhile, who her mother was talking to while holding out a jigsaw puzzle box. As soon as the box was set down, Rei tried to not listen in on her mother's explanation of how to do the puzzle. She couldn't believe the boy would rather spend time with her mother than with her! She returned her attention to the game and smashed an enemy to nothing before moving on, oohing in delight when she found that there was a cutscene.

Later, when she was done the level she was on, she heard her mother call them over for dinner. So she saved her game, turned it off, then bolted for the kitchen. She quickly seized her seat with ease, and a few seconds later the boy shuffled in. He seemed to hesitate in where to sit until Rei's mother herded him to one... beside Rei.

Rei tried not to scowl as he climbed into the spot beside her, instead she grabbed her chopsticks and tried to get the noodles when her mother cleared her throat. Stiffening, Rei saw her mother had her hands clasped together and was gazing at her expectantly, so Rei did the same in embarrassment.

As her mother said grace, Rei opened up an eye to see that the boy was fidgeting with his hands and that made her want to smirk. The boy had asked them during their first meal together as a family for why they prayed, seemingly confused why they had to do it. It confused her that he didn't know how to pray at the time, especially when he didn't understand the meaning. More and more did she feel perplexed by the boy, and she couldn't help but begin to think that there was never a day that he knew anything about the world.

After her mother was finished, they started eating. Rei saw that the boy was awkwardly moving his chopsticks, trying to pick up the noodles, but they slipped out quickly like fish. When Rei was five, she was able to use chopsticks like a pro! But he had trouble, he held his chocksticks as though he was ready to impale his bowl at any given moment... Where did he come from? He should have been able to use chopsticks already!

"You're doing it wrong!" she shouted in frustration, quickly grabbing them out of the boy's hands and tried to adjust his smaller hands correctly. As soon as she made his fingers hold the chopsticks properly, she shouted out with annoyance, "There! Like this!" She moved her chopsticks to make them tap each other, watching as the boy after a moment copied her, but slower. With a nod of approval, she went back to eating afterwards, shoving some noodles into her mouth.

* * *

A few days later it was raining. Rei couldn't be picked up today so she had to walk home. She felt happy her parents trusted her enough to get home by herself safely, but she wished it could have been a sunny day! Especially when it was a downpour!

Adjusting her dark magenta umbrella, she continued to walk in the downpour, jumping through puddles and giggling at the splashes she made. She didn't expect that it would rain today, but she was glad her mother gave her an umbrella. It happened to be her favorite umbrella, seeing that the colour was super!

Rei suddenly found that as she grew closer to home it became harder to hang onto the umbrella, and the wind was throwing her blonde bangs into her face again and again. Then just as she was a block away from home, a powerful wind didn't seem to care how hard she held onto her umbrella and stole it from her!

" _No_!" she shrieked as it hurled above the cars, soon escaping her view within seconds. Rei gawked in the direction it went; soon remembering that it was time to cross the street. But how could she!? She lost the umbrella!

Feeling the rain pound down on her, she shivered and hugged herself. She didn't want to get sick... but she didn't want to go home empty-handed... And her parents could get angry with her if she had no umbrella... but also could be angry to find she was soaking wet... and cold! Rei didn't want to get drenched and colder than she already was, so she waited for the walking signal to pop up again and ran home.

* * *

Slamming the door closed, Rei shed her rain jacket and boots and threw them into the closet. And as she walked into the living room, wringing out her blonde locks, she saw the boy sitting on the couch again, doing the puzzle that was laid out on the coffee table. The boy looked up from it, his maroon eyes watching her with surprise flicking in them. Yesterday her mother took him out to get a haircut, so his bangs were hanging above his eyes now. In fact, it was sort of weird being stared at...

Rei didn't say anything; she merely turned to take her backpack upstairs. As soon as it was in her room, she dashed for the bathroom to claim her towel and threw it on her head, rubbing her hair until it was messy. She put it back before she went to change, getting her device after and headed downstairs. Soon she flopped down onto one of the armchairs, sinking into it as she breathed out a sigh. **'As long as I don't say anything, I'll be okay.'** She shiftily peeked at her foster brother, who was watching her briefly before he averted his gaze to the puzzle again. **'He won't say anything! I'm sure of it! He doesn't have a reason to rat me out, nor does he want to have anything to do with me anyways...'**

* * *

Later on her parents got home, and it was still relatively quiet. Rei didn't mind, she was doing a hard level in her video game so she welcomed the silence. There wasn't anything eventful happening at the time... until she overheard her father when she was almost done a boss battle. "Etsu?"

"Yes, dear?" she said from where she sat at the coffee table, looking up from the jigsaw puzzle she was doing with the boy.

"We're missing an umbrella," he noted as Rei finished the boss, causing her to look up with a flinch.

She saw her mother frown at once, putting the piece she had down and slowly rose to her feet. She quickly joined her father, and they soon spoke to each other so quietly that Rei couldn't hear what they were saying. Instantly Rei felt the need to bite her nails, fearing that she could be caught. The only thing she could do was pretend nothing was wrong, right? Rei got up as casually as she could after saving her game, turning it off as she instantly headed towards the stairs, ignoring how the boy gazed at her as she passed him. She started going up the stairs, her heart racing with a thrill that she was nearly off the hook when...

"Rei sweetie?"

At once Rei stopped, turning around gradually to look down at her parents. "Yeah?"

"I gave you an umbrella this morning, didn't I?" asked her mother as she crossed her arms.

 **'Oh no...'** Rei stopped herself from biting her nails as she stood there, trying her best to not look at her father, who was watching her mindfully. **'I'm screwed!'**

"Y-Yeah, it was magenta," she said in a chirp, tipping her head as she asked as innocently as she could, "Its there, right?"

"No, we only have the green and grey ones," replied her father with a sigh, shaking his head as his neatly cropped hair shifted. "I took the green one, your mother had the grey..."

 **'Oh no!?'** Rei tried to not let herself widen her eyes, gulping slightly as she stared at him now. **'I'm screwed! Dad knows something!'**

"...I think it's _upstairs_!" she chirped out as she turned to go higher, trying not to seem frazzled as she took each step. "I'll go get it!" With that, she flew up to the top and dashed for her room.

Slamming the door closed, she slid from the door down to the floor in a slump. **'Phew! That was close!'** But now she had to pretend to find it... or she would be punished!

Drawing her hands away from her face, she quickly scanned her room for something, _anything_ that could help her. Noticing her toy crate, she charged over to it, shaking out every single toy she had then dove for her backpack and shook out everything it had as well.

When there was a knock on her door, she froze when she heard her father. "Rei? Did you find it?"

"Um..." Rei cringed on the inside, turning as the door slowly opened and her mother and father stepped in.

She heard a gasp from her mother. " _Rei_!? Your room is a _mess_!" she exclaimed in dismay.

"Yeah..." The blonde haired girl frowned at that. "Couldn't find it..."

Her father grimly looked around, his sharp eyes seemed to thoroughly inspect her room as though it was a crime scene. Rei merely grinned, trying not to grind her teeth together as she sat there, hoping her father wouldn't find something to catch her red-handed with.

"It's no wonder!" Her mother crossed her arms, shaking her head as she scowled. "You will clean this room at once, Rei! You already had to clean it twice this week, so you better think about keeping it cleaner in the future!" she scolded with frustration. " _Or_ \- we might have to think about giving you more chores around the house."

"Yes, I'll be on it, _Mom_ ~" called Rei sweetly, watching as her mother walked out, leaving her with her father. Keeping her grin, Rei turned to her father when he seemed finished with looking around.

"Are you sure it's in your room?" he asked suspiciously as he frowned.

"Um, yeah!" She blinked, starting to shove her toys back into the toy crate. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"You've never brought an umbrella upstairs before."

"I must have forgotten!" She gave a short fit of laughter as she rubbed the back of her neck, trying to appear sheepish. "Yeah!"

"Oh really?" asked her father with a curt nod. "Your foster brother differed on that..."

"Huh?" Rei frowned instantly at that, knitting her eyebrows in confusion.

"He seemed to notice you were soaking wet when you got home," explained her father pleasantly. "You know how to use an umbrella, yes?"

"It was too windy!" she said hotly as she finished cleaning up her toys. "So I didn't use it!" She puffed out her cheeks as she shook her head. "I didn't want it to fly away so I kept it closed!"

For a few seconds her father watched her, wordlessly standing there as she turned back to him. Then he leaned down and put his hand on her head. "Where were you when you lost it?"

Rei flinched. "Uh..."

"You dislike getting cold or wet," he said sternly, soon meeting her brown eyes with his. "Nor would anyone just close it in the middle of a downpour, Rei. It doesn't make sense, and you know better than that."

Blushing in embarrassment, Rei kicked the ground meekly.

"Now then," he said as he got up, sighing when he asked gently, "Where is it?"

Sighing, Rei looked away to mumble, "A block from our house, the wind got it."

"And why did it get it?"

"The wind was too strong," she replied in defeat, slumping her shoulders and closing her eyes. "It went off somewhere, but it was too misty to see where it flew."

"Thank you." Her hair was ruffled before Rei opened her eyes, seeing her father nod before he turned towards the door. "Next time, tell the truth, please."

"You know Mom would have _siced_ me!" Rei protested, puffing out her cheeks.

A chuckle came from her father. "Perhaps... But, by now she knows her daughter well enough to expect it."

"Hey!" Rei protested again indignantly. "I'm not-"

"Clean your room," he stated sternly before he left. "We'll speak of your punishment after dinner."

Rei pouted before she sighed, leaning back down to obey him sulkily.

* * *

Of course Rei didn't expect to get off easily, she just wished her father could have said nothing to her mother... But it didn't seem he was in the mood to do that...

As Rei laid on her bed, ready for bed in the gloom of her room, she breathed out a sigh. **'At least she didn't yell as much...'**

Her mother, despite her quiet personality, seemed to have a short temper at times with her, especially when Rei did something wrong. But Rei couldn't help it! It was just... she couldn't even figure out why she did things like she did... She had been called dumb at school many times when she was younger, but that didn't change how reckless she was now. She just couldn't think of better ways to save herself from getting in trouble, it was that simple!

Shifting to her other side, she peered at Ruff, her stuffed teddy bear. **'At least I didn't get a week of laundry again... That has to count for victory, right?'** Ruff absently stared back, still propped against the wall before she took him into her arms and hugged him. **'Well, looks like I need to be careful tomorrow...'**

After a few seconds, she narrowed her eyes, remembering the reason that she got in trouble in the first place. **'But if it weren't for him, I wouldn't be in trouble! Why couldn't he just stay silent like he usually is!? Grr-'** She soon rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling again. **'Why can't he just be unboring!? Why can't he just like me!? Wait-'** She frowned deeply, closing her eyes. **'Unless, he hates me! But why would he? I didn't do anything to him! Except when I met him, but that doesn't count! It was an accident!'** Sighing, she blinked and thought as she felt a flare of anger explode into her heart, **' _Ugh_ , sometimes I wish he wasn't here!'**

Backtracking from that thought, she sighed. **'But… that's not nice… Maybe he can't help but** _ **be**_ **boring? Meh…'** She shoved her anger away, deciding it wasn't worth ranting on in her head about. **'But still, he shouldn't have done that… I guess I'll yell at him tomorrow about it, when Dad and Mom aren't there. Yeah! That sounds like a great idea! ...As long as he doesn't play as a snitch again, but I'll worry about that tomorrow…'**

Keeping the white teddy bear with the blue ribbon snug in her arms, she soon drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The next morning Rei woke up to the sound of yelling. When she sleepily stared at her pink, poster covered wall, she grimaced just as she realized the yelling was coming from downstairs.

Many minutes later she came down, dressed for the day in warm clothes as she clutched Ruff in her arms, only stopping when she could hear the yells clearly.

"You must call the police!" shouted her mother fretfully as Rei peeked around the corner.

"We shouldn't jump the gun so soon," replied her father calmly, although his tone slightly shook as Rei heard concern in it. "In fact, if we don't find him, the next time I go to the station I'll personally fill out a missing report myself."

"You better!" cried her mother with worry. "It's still raining outside!"

"I know, dear... We'll just have to search for him the best we can, like anyone would do."

In return, Rei's mother gave a reluctant nod.

As soon as they turned around, Rei flinched as they noticed her. Instead of waiting for them to say something, she came over and stared up at them with a frown. "What were you guys talking about?"

At first they exchanged a look with each other, wordlessly staring and making Rei impatient, then her mother turned back to her with sadness shining through her eyes. "Have you seen him?"

"Um…" Rei screwed up her face, adjusting Ruff as she shrugged her shoulders. "Seen who, Mom?"

"Your foster brother," breathed her father as his eyebrows knitted at once.

"Oh…" she slurred out with realization, soon widening her eyes as she chirped out with confusion, "Nope! I haven't seen him… Is he still sleeping?" That didn't seem as likely, but she did know that the boy often slept in longer (from what she understood when he came downstairs later than her on weekends).

"Rei, please be serious with us," sternly said her mother as she crossed her arms, looking thoroughly displeased with her. "We can't find him anywhere."

"What!?" she cried out with dismay, dropping her snowy white teddy bear without thinking. "He must be hiding somewhere- or in the bathroom- or-or-"

Her father instantly leaned down and put his hand on her shoulder. "Rei." She blinked, feeling dazed slightly as he said grimly, "He's definitely not in the house, dear. Your mother and I already checked, and he's definitely _not_ here…"

Rei stared at her father, shocked that he was repeating himself. Of course, she understood that her father was trying to make her understand the severity of the situation. But, it couldn't be true! The boy was always sitting on the couch; she's never seen him anywhere else but there when she got home! There was no way he would be gone! Heck, where would a five year old go?

"Why wouldn't he be here!?" she shrieked as her heart started to quicken, she felt the need to nibble on her nails as she clenched her fists. "He's- He's…"

Suddenly her father's hand departed from her shoulder, and he turned away as she caught him muttering suddenly. Her father never muttered, not unless something was bothering him.

"What was that, dear?" asked her mother with concern, tilting her head to one side as she reached her hand towards his arm. "Did you figure something out?"

For a few seconds, the blond haired man didn't answer. But then, as soon as Rei's mother's hand touched his arm, he cleared his throat before he quietly said, "Yesterday… he was asking me what a block was."

Wait… why would her father be so worried about that? A block was a block! There was the toy block, like the ones she played with when she was a toddler, then there was the block that meant there was ten houses! Why would-

"He asked me that, after asking me if Rei was going to be in trouble," continued her father heavily, his brown eyes flickered at Rei. "I… I think he went outside."

"Wait- _what_!?" Rei shrieked in shock again. Her mother instantly shot her a look that told her to stop, and Rei pushed her lips together tightly. She grimaced as she wondered why the block and going outside was linked to the boy, and it couldn't have been a toy block if the boy went outside. If that was the case, her father must have meant ten houses...

"Now, why would he do that?" asked Rei's mother softly in concern, her brown eyes flashing as she stared at her father intensely. "He knows he needs to stay indoors. In fact, it's raining outside-"

"Raining hard, to be frank," said her father with a strange tone, suddenly heading for the closet.

"Dear?" Her mother followed Rei's father, her neatly tied brown hair swishing as she crossed the floor.

"I'm going to look for him, Etsu," he said as he got out his dark grey jacket, sliding one of his arms through the sleeve then the other as he added in determination, "I made it my responsibility to take care of him. And I don't want him to freeze out there because I'm standing here making theories about his _whereabouts_." After picking out the grey umbrella, he turned back to Rei's mother. "I will find him. I don't care what the current contracts say about my guardianship, he's _my_ son."

It was silent for a few seconds, then Rei's mother went over to the closet and took out her dark brown coat. "I'm coming with you." she said firmly. After a heartbeat, she turned to him. "We better use the car, dear… It must be freezing out there."

"Thank you," said Genji with relief, his eyes shined with happiness. "I could use the company."

Rei instantly turned away the moment her mother leaned over to her father. **'Yuck! Can't they stop being mushy!?'**

"We need you to stay here, Rei," said her mother curtly as soon as her father opened the door. "There's a chance that your foster brother could come home, so you should be ready to make sure he's okay, and to call us if he does." When her father left the house, Rei's mother added as she stared outside, "If we're not back at noon, there's some leftover ramen in the fridge you can eat."

"Aw, _yes_!" Rei exclaimed with joy, fist-pumping as she grinned. "Ramen, you shall be defeated by my stomach!"

"Take care, sweetie." With that, her mother set out. "We'll be back."

As soon as her mother was gone, the door closed and locked deftly, Rei pouted as soon as a minute passed. It was just herself now, and she didn't like it. The atmosphere was almost suffocating from the silence, like the silence the boy always gave her…

Shaking her head, she instantly picked up Ruff, propping him against the armchair she liked to sit in, then went off to get her video game console. But as soon as she sat down, in the middle of starting up the game, she paused at the menu screen.

" _What's that?"_

She scrunched up her nose, trying to drive the boy's voice from her head. She had to ignore the fact that he wasn't sitting on the couch opposite from her, trying to focus on her game instead with her sweet freedom. But then again, she gained this freedom because her parents were looking for him…

The blonde sighed in frustration, brushing her hand through her hair wildly as she closed her eyes. **'If I went after my umbrella… would he be out there now?'** This could have been avoided, she knew that. But if she did go after her umbrella, she would probably be sick in bed, and she would hate that! This had to have been the better option, seeing that she was safe and warm inside her home. But she couldn't shake the feeling of worry out of her heart. It felt as though the longer she played her game the longer the feeling developed, creating a dissatisfaction inside her as she tried to distract herself with the game. In fact, playing the game felt wrong, sitting here felt wrong! She didn't understand what was wrong with her, but she couldn't help but turn off her game in the end, disgusted for some reason she couldn't quite place.

Getting up, she put her game console down and gazed at the door. **'Hmm…'** She looked down at her game. **'Hmm…'** Again she looked at the door, noticing there was only one umbrella left… It was on the ground, half-open, not on the umbrella stand... it was hidden behind the stand. **'Oh?'**

She went over to the umbrella stand, widening her bright brown coloured eyes as she whipped her head at the door. **'Wait? They should have taken two? Why didn't they?'** She juggled with a ponder for why the umbrella was here, but it didn't make sense! Her mother and father wouldn't have left it here! It wasn't like they were expecting her to go outside, in fact, her mother told her to stay and wait! So what was it doing here?

But then again, shouldn't the boy have used one...? It was raining outside... Unless, he didn't know how to use one? Did they teach him how to use an umbrella yet? After a few seconds of thinking on it, looking at the half-opened, green umbrella, Rei stiffened at once. **'** **Oh no! He didn't use one! And it must be freezing out there! Oh no, oh no, oh no-'** She pushed her hands near her mouth, ready to gnaw on her nails. It seemed almost as though the boy tried to use an umbrella, but was unable to and left without putting it back... He was outside without an umbrella! It was raining hard! What was the boy thinking!? **'The poor kid! All alone, miserable, cold, wet… without an umbrella! What if he's _dead_!?'**

Her blood chilled at the last thought. **'Oh, my gosh... He _could_ be dead!'**

She had to find him! But where would he go? In fact, him going outside didn't make sense! Going outside without an umbrella made no sense! But why would he go out? She tried to remember something her father said, something that could help her!

 _"Yesterday… he was asking me what a block was."_

 _"He asked me that, after asking me if Rei was going to be in trouble. I… I think he went outside."_

Why did the boy ask her father about those things? Unless, he seemed to be eavesdropping on her and her father yesterday... But that made no sense! He just sat on the couch either doing nothing or the puzzle! Why did he need to know what a block was? Or even whether or not she would get in trouble? But then, it dawned on her.

She lost the umbrella a block away from home...

Rei trembled at once. **'No... he wouldn't... But, would he?'** Suddenly she got a sense that wondering about it wouldn't help the boy sooner, she knew he must have went out to search for the missing umbrella. It wasn't much, but she had a gut feeling straightaway, deciding to go with it!

Ripping the green umbrella from the floor, quickly putting on her rain gear, she opened the door and thrust it open, wincing from the bang it shouted out. The rain pounded on the ground hard, and Rei instantly shivered hard from watching the droplets shooting downwards. But she stepped outside regardless of how she felt, closing the door and locking it before she faced the rain again.

She shivered madly as she struggled to open her umbrella, feeling chilled by the constant onslaught of rain… She gave a quick glance around, seeing nothing but rain and mist. **'Geez… how can I get through this?'** she thought in frustration, breathing in deeply before she pushed hard on her feet to run.

Quickly she ran through the misty streets, being mindful of the cars that slid through the roads. She took a breather when she walked up to the location she was the day before, trying to stand in the exact same spot and direction, holding her umbrella above her head as she peered around her. **'Okay… I was here-'** She turned and looked at the pole she stood beside, remembering the umbrella flying through the air. **'Then it was time to cross…'** She grimaced at once. **'Which way did it fly again?'** The blonde couldn't remember a single thing! Although, she remembered the wind was hitting her face, so… She breathed in quickly, turning to her right as she nodded. **'This way!'**

Again she ran into the rain, keeping her umbrella upward as she nearly skidded on the puddles. She didn't understand why she wanted to run instead of walking, seeing that she could slip. But to her, if she walked she would have been running home already from getting too cold, and… Well, to her, this would be an awesome scene from an anime! It had to be awesome! So, running would look cool, right?

Thus, she kept running around.

* * *

Huffing and puffing, she nearly collapsed onto the ground. Luckily she gained her balance, saving her from faceplanting onto the cold, drenched pavement.

She wheezed where she stood, her knees shaking from the chilly wind as she closed her eyes. **'Man… h-how long was I running?'** She didn't know exactly if she ran more than looked, but she soon spotted cars zooming back and forth across the Scramble Crossing. **' _Oh_!? I'm _here_!? _Wow_ …'** She felt tempted to rub her neck, but her hands were already cold and wet from the rain sloshing onto them when she had run through puddles.

Watching the cars, she soon flinched when she realized it was time to cross. She at once ran across the street, unsure about which way to go as she safely got to the other side. She shivered, soon glancing around again as she sighed. **' _Ugh_ … It's _too_ cold!'** But then she remembered she was nearby Sunshine Stationside! That place had to be warm! Heck, it practically sold hot, juicy burgers! _Mmm_! How could that place not be warm!?

Licking her lips, she marched straight in the direction of the burger joint. The thought of warmth, _shelter_ , brought a grin onto her face. However, as she walked up to it, she flinched when she noticed not only was it closed, but there was a small person sitting on the ground. She saw the child had black hair, probably from being assaulted by the rain because she noticed it wasn't quite black actually and it clung to his scalp, but then she noticed he was wearing the coat the boy was wearing… Wait-

She widened her brown eyes in shock. **'Oh, my gosh, I FOUND HIM!'**

A sneeze came from the boy, who shivered as he tried to curl up against the archway of the food place. She soon saw how his normally pale skin was nothing but a pastel of white, and he was slightly blushing…

He must have been sick!

"Hey!" she said sharply as she quickly walked over and leaned down. "Whatcha doin' here? It's raining!"

The boy didn't answer her, like always.

" _Sheesh_ , we were _looking_ for you!" she scolded as she scowled at him, shivering as she spat, "A-And it's _raining_! You should have had an _umbrella_! You _could_ die!"

Instead of replying, a harsh sob came from him.

Rei froze, listening as another sob tore out of his throat. She gaped, of course, but then recovered as she instantly reached towards him, putting her hand on his shoulder, like she had seen with her mother and father… without the kissing of course! That would be gross!

"Whoa, what's wrong!?" she asked in alarm, wondering why he was crying. She never saw him cry, in fact, she never saw him show any other emotion than… hmm? Did he show any emotions? Well, there was that one time there was surprise... She tried to pull herself out of that thought, seeing that she needed to focus on the boy!

Wordlessly, he tried to turn more to the wall, but she stopped him. "Hey! I need you to tell me!" she snapped, frustrated he wasn't cooperating! "C'mon! Spit it out!"

Soon the boy let out another sob, trembling as he lifted his tiny hands, which were cradling a tangle of metal and fabric… "I… I-It… It was like this when I found it… I-I'm sorry..."

Rei flinched; shocked that he would rather show her a piece of junk than open up to her. But then, she recognized the fabric.

It was dark magenta.

She was right; he went out to look for it.

"I really _tried_!" he sobbed as he lifted his head, allowing Rei to see his reddened, puffy eyes and the tears that gushed out of them. "It got damaged by the _cars_! A-And when I-I got it…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" she cried out as she shook her arms, accidentally shaking rain on them via the umbrella. Looking down at the damaged umbrella with a frown, she soon asked him with appall, "You went onto the road to get _this_!?"

"Y-Yeah…" he said quietly with a sob.

"Okay, that's _nuts_!" she exclaimed with dismay and frustration. "You can't do _that_!"

"I-I'm sorry…" he whimpered quietly.

"Well, don't do it then!" she snapped as she glared at him. "You could have _died_! And that is _so_ not a cool thing!"

The boy frowned at her, soon closing his eyes tightly as he sobbed harder.

Rei couldn't understand why the boy did that! The umbrella was basically garbage now, and it wasn't worth anything! It was better to leave it than to save what was left of it, from what she learned when she tried to save every candy wrapper from the candies she ate when she was younger. Some things just had to be thrown away...

"Why did you do it?" she asked angrily. When the boy didn't answer her at first, she narrowed her brown eyes more as she hissed, " _Why_ , did you _do_ _it_!?"

He was silent for a few seconds, soon whimpering in sadness, "You… You were in _trouble_ …"

"Huh, what?" She stared down at him, wondering what he was talking about. But then she realized what he meant.

"You lost this…" he whimpered miserably as he looked back down at the mangled umbrella. "I-I… I thought that, th-that if I found it… you wouldn't be in trouble anymore. Then… then you would be happy, everyon-" He stopped to sneeze a couple of times, shivering soon when he sneezed for the last time.

Rei flinched, knowing it was too cold to be here. The boy probably caught a cold, and he wasn't getting any better while outside…

Hastily she hauled him to his feet, seizing the mangled umbrella he had in his trembling hands and tossed it over her shoulder. She saw him widen his maroon eyes, soon peering up at her with horror. "It's broken, _dummy_!" she cried when he continued to look at her that way. "We can't use it _anymore_!"

Shoving him under her umbrella's shelter, she held onto his small hand hard to make sure he didn't try to retrieve the umbrella again. In seconds he sobbed hard, almost wailing as she attempted to make them walk back to the Scramble Crossing, " _No_! You'll just be in trouble! We need to get it!"

"No, we _don't_!" she hissed in frustration. " _Forget it_!"

"Why can't we take it back!?" he sobbed miserably as he tried to resist. "Why can't we take it _back_!?"

" _I just_ TOLD YOU!" she yelled out harshly in fury, halting to swing her head over to deliver a dark glare he winced at. "Why do you care about whether or not I'm in trouble when _you_ -" she slightly tapped him with the umbrella, earning a distressed yelp from him. "-got _me_ into trouble!?"

The boy sobbed harder. "I was _concerned_!"

She stopped at once. **'What?'**

"You were soaked, you didn't have the umbrella even though it was raining-" he babbled as his sobs started to make it harder to understand him. "I just wanted to make sure Genji knew so you could be safe! Genji could tell you to dress warmer, or- _or_ -"

"Whoa, hold up!" she interrupted abruptly as she stared at him bewildered. "Why couldn't you just _tell_ me _that_!?"

Instead of a response, all he did was sob. He seemed to be trying to tell her, but his sobbing made it impossible to hear him now. His words were basically gibberish, and Rei panicked for a moment. **'Oh no... No, no, no! I'm making him feel bad! Wait- I already did! Oh no, I'm a horrible person!'**

"No, no, no- I-I'm sorry!" she cried in shame. "I-I didn't mean to upset you!" She saw that he didn't seem to have heard her, his sobbing probably was the only thing he heard. The only thing to do in this situation was to help him calm down, and she decided that one of the things she was good at would do the trick... Except, she had to tone it down _quite_ a bit for him. She didn't want to hurt him!

Dropping his hand, leaning down, she wrapped her arms around him and tried to not apply too much pressure to her hug. Of course, she tried her best to shield them from the rain with the umbrella, but she could only awkwardly hold it where the boy's back was, which caused the rain to hit hers instead. The boy loudly sobbed as she tried to calm him down, but she knew she basically sucked at spoken consolation... So, she held him, feeling him lean against her as he shoved his face into her shoulder, trembling hard as each sob tore out of his throat. Her mind kept racing, trying to figure out what else to do as he cried into her shoulder, but soon she found he was growing quieter as minutes passed. Soon, he merely let her hug him, shivering slightly, but he seemed to have finished crying.

Releasing him, she stood up and studied him as he sniffled and tried to wipe off the tear stains from his cheeks, but his shaky hands got more raindrops on his face. Rei merely sighed, putting a hand on her hip as she asked as softly as she could manage, "Better?"

For a second the boy was silent, then he hesitantly gave a nod.

Rei took in a deep breath before she asked, "Okay, why didn't you tell me instead of Dad?"

"I…" The boy promptly looked down, quivering as he breathed, "...It's hard…"

"What's hard?" she asked in confusion, frowning deeply.

He continued to stare at the ground, sniffling, "...To talk to you."

"Huh, what?" She didn't quite understand what he meant.

"You are always, _always_ trying to do something for me," he explained slowly with a sniffle. "...But I don't deserve it!"

Rei flinched at once. "What?"

"I haven't had anyone show me things like you do…" he said quietly, shifting slightly on the spot. "No one showed me how to read before, or to write, or to even hold chopsticks!" Pausing for a second, he suddenly cried out in amazement, "You even tried to help me find a name! Even though I didn't ask you to, you did it without being told to!" He shivered, soon putting in bitterly, "But I… I don't know how to respond to that. You're the first person who actually wants to show me things, other than Genji or Etsu, without being asked to... Other kids at the orphanage wanted to avoid me, but you-" He looked up at her, his eyes flashing as he blurted out, almost breathlessly, "You want to be near me! And I- It makes me feel weird inside, like I'm something worth talking to! I never felt like this before, and it's all _weird_ for me!"

"Oh…" Rei breathed quietly. **'He… What? He… Did he actually like being with me!?'** This was unexpected. She thought he hated her! But, now that she thought about it, did she take it the wrong way? She couldn't have… right? Or, maybe she did? She remembered all the days she started to ignore him, simply because of the fact he wasn't being the sibling she wanted. Suddenly guilt stabbed her, and she felt the need to hug the boy again and apologize… without making him pass out this time, seeing that her hugs were prone to do that...

"…I didn't know how else to show you how much that meant to me," he said meekly, turning his head away as he scoffed, "I know I don't talk much, but it's hard to talk to someone without insulting them back for once." After breathing in shakily, he went on with uncertainty, "...You never insulted me, you _never_ did! B-But how do I respond to that?" He soon looked at her again, and Rei saw how his eyes reflected confusion. "How do I?"

Rei didn't quite understand what he meant. It was easy to strike up a friendly chat with people! But to insult people, rather than laughing along with them, didn't make sense at all! How was that a thing? You don't insult people when you talk to them, you try to have fun when in their company. You be there for them! You make sure they're okay! But how could he not know that? Was it the orphanage? Was the kids who lived there mean? A sudden slice of anger struck her, making her want to go over there and beat up the kids who were mean to the boy. But right now, this demanded more of her attention... But that didn't mean she wouldn't do it later!

"…You try to smile!" she piped with a grin. "Be friendly! Have fun! Make jokes! Laugh! You make people like you by being nice and caring! In fact- _anyone_ can become friends!"

The boy merely looked at her in confusion.

" _What_? It's easy!" she chirped as she made them walk across the sidewalk again. "I don't know where you came from, but it's easy to talk to people!"

"That sounds hard…" he whimpered.

"Heh." She stopped at the crosswalk, waiting for the walk signal to appear. "I'm here! So I'll teach you the social skills you need!" When she let go of his hand, she smirked as she gave a thumbs up. "Leave it to me…" She paused for a few seconds, trying to figure out something to call him (because her statement would be _awkward_ if she didn't call him by something!). But what could she call him? He didn't have a name, calling him a dummy again was mean, calling him 'foster brother' would be too _tedious_ and _lame_ … But then it hit her.

"…Fos-Bro!"

The boy looked confused for a second, but then Rei nodded and piped, "Yeah! Leave it to me, Fos-Bro!"

"Fos-Bro?" asked the boy in confusion. "What's that?"

"Your spiffy nickname!" explained Rei as she nodded again. "Until you figure out your name!"

It was a few seconds until her Fos-Bro blinked. "…Okay." he said hesitantly.

At that, Rei grinned broader, feeling her chest swell with happiness.

When the road was clear, they crossed the street together.

* * *

 **\- END -**

 **I hope you enjoyed the story! =3**

 **…**

 **EeveeGen9988: *uses a wooden pole to poke the final boss she defeated to get to this point, then spits out the pole that she was holding in her mouth* So, this is the end… Wow… time sure goes fast when you're having fun or you're busy… I can hardly believe it still, this is the end…**

 **Well, it sure was fun participating in Twelve Shots of Summer! And I wish everyone luck on their last pieces for this summer! And thank you to those who helped me along the way, I really appreciate it! =3**

 **Here's to me trying to achieve as many [Classics] and {Failsafes} as I can for the last story! HERE WE GO! =P**

 **The prompt [These Days We Chance Upon] happened when Rei's attempts to be a big sister to Izo were thought to have been in vain to her because Rei thought Izo didn't care about her or her attempts, but it meant a lot more to him than she had thought. Which, also explains the classic** **[Eucatastrophe] because it was a victory in a sense that Izo appreciated what she was doing even if she thought he didn't so she thought her attempts failed and she lost in the beginning.**

 **...While at the same time, the prompt [My Friends Are My Power] sort of happened when Rei was explaining to Izo what spending time and how to interact with people was supposed to be like and what friendship was.**

 **[Backstory] definitely is this story about the time of Rei's initial feelings and experience during the first month of having Izo live with her family… And also, how 'Fos-Bro' came to be...**

 **[Foreshadowing] happened because of the fact that Rei was like: "the boy who lives in the same house with me won't tell anyone about the umbrella is gone." but then Izo told Genji about Rei arriving without it and was soaked. And it also applies with "sometimes I wish the boy who lives in the same house as me wasn't here." then the next morning Izo's gone.**

 **[Catharsis] is basically Rei having an internal struggle about having Izo as a foster brother and doesn't really complain about it to people until she finds Izo and yells at him about it after bottling her feelings up for so long.**

 **[Poetic Justice] is when Rei gets punished for lying to them about the umbrella and losing the said umbrella.**

 **[Repetition] works because Rei keeps thinking about things and repeating: "It made/makes no sense!" Which wasn't intentional, to tell you the truth! I'm very genuine about this... O_O**

 **{Crisco Pie Tin} happened with the title, because the title sort of doesn't relate to the story, I guess... In fact, it's very misleading, don't you agree? *rubs back of neck* Hopefully that works, right?**

 _ **Fun Fact – **_**The title of this story was… um… I just put it there for a placeholder title but then it sort of stuck… *shrugs* Also, it was something along the lines of "Ready or not! Here I come!" and I was tempted to call the story "Lucky or Not! Here Rei Comes!" but I liked "Lucky or Not!" better... Oh, and I was also considering "Rei of the Day!" for the title, but then came up with "Lucky or Not!"**

 _ **Fun Fact – **_**Did you know Izo picked his name because he liked how it sounded and because of the rhythm? Although, he doesn't want to admit that, of course.**


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